Researchers on the road

Scientists from the Arboretum have been trotting the globe this year contributing their data to worldwide research on trees, plants, and tree care.

Head of Research Gary Watson, author of “The Practical Science of Planting Trees,” has spoken on the subject in Iowa and New Mexico. He also spoke at the Chicago Plant Science Symposium at The Field Museum on how high-speed camera measurement techniques developed to test materials for NASA might be adapted to tree biomechanics, the study of how trees are structured, and how they respond to stress. Watson was on a team that conducted the first experiments using the technique on trees at the Arboretum last year.

In June, Forest Scientist Robert Fahey reported to the North American Forest Ecology Workshop on how the complexity of forests changes as they age.

Meanwhile, Plant Conservation Biologist Marlin Bowles has spoken in Kansas and Minneapolis on the results of the decades of research he and his colleagues have conducted into what techniques work for forest and prairie restoration, what didn’t work as well, and what factors affect success.

Senior Scientist Andrew Hipp has spoken on the genetic relationships of oak and sedges at the University of Milwaukee and the New York Botanical Garden and in November will travel to speak at the Korea National Arboretum international Symposium near Seoul, South Korea. Hipp works with partners from other institutions worldwide on studies of the genetic relationships of oak and of sedges, small grasslike plants that are among the world’s most genetically diverse and ecologically important plant families.

In October, President and CEO Gerard Donnelly and Vice President for Science & Conservation Nicole Cavender will attend the congress of Botanic Gardens Conservation International in New Zealand, where Cavender will speak on strategies for conserving endangered tree species in public gardens.